Chapter 20: Their Respective Paths

  "How is this possible? The World Heritage has actually lost!" King Jin originally was waiting for Tang An to be defeated by Xie Shi Yu and get knocked out. His face already had a prepared look of disdainful smile.

  But now, this smile suddenly froze.

  Because Xie Shi lost!

  The King of Jin was shocked to the extreme, his facial expression frozen in place, wanting to laugh but unable to!

  "Zi Lei Nine Swords, this is already the most supreme swordsmanship in the world. Even the Emperor acknowledges that under the Heavenly Boundary, no one dares to take the final blow. But how did Xie Shi Yu lose? Could it be that even the Emperor was wrong?" The King of Jin muttered to himself, saying something unbelievable.

  Qin Qing didn't understand the meaning, he was originally an ordinary person, a weakling who could be killed by any Jianghu person. But when he heard Jin Wang's outburst, he couldn't remain calm anymore, and immediately coughed heavily to remind him: "Your Highness, you've lost your composure."

  The King of Jin adjusted his attire, regained his composure and resumed his usual demeanor. He glanced at Tang An and nodded in feigned delight, even standing up to give him a thumbs-up, saying: "Tianjian is indeed famous for a reason." Then he turned to Yue Wu and congratulated him, saying: "Congratulations, General, on having such a brave warrior under your command. He will surely achieve great things again and bring glory to our nation!"

  Yue Wu stood up on his horse, with a serious expression, and bowed to the imperial city in the south: "Such a brave warrior should be congratulated by Your Majesty!"

  Qin Qing and Xiang He simultaneously changed their expressions, both turned to face south and bowed with their hands clasped together, saying in unison: "We offer congratulations to Your Majesty, we offer congratulations to our great Yan!"

  ………

  Lu Hu, Leng Wuji, and Jin Mian Nan looked at Tang Anna's eighth killing sword style, each with a different expression.

  Lu Hu was directly shocked, his mouth wide open, he never thought that Tang An would be so powerful, compared to Tang An, his own "Dahai Crazy Knife" was nothing to be proud of.

  But he suddenly came to, and with a loud slap on his own thigh, burst into loud laughter. The laughter was almost manic: "So that's it! I finally understand why others call him the Heavenly Sword! This sword's power is fundamentally not something a human can unleash! It seems he's already close to reaching the Heavenly Realm."

  Leng Wujie's expression remained unchanged, but he lowered his head in deep contemplation: "The universe has five elements, and above the five elements, there are four symbols. Above the four symbols, there are two principles. The two principles divide yin and yang, with yin being killing and yang being life. When yin and yang combine, the sword returns to its origin! So that's how it is, no wonder this sword is so formidable. It seems that Xie Shi Yi was not unjustly defeated. However, that one sword from earlier seemed like it hadn't reached its limit yet. Just now, he could have mustered all his strength and unleashed the full power of this sword's momentum, but at the critical moment, he restrained himself instead. Not killing? Could it be that he wanted to accumulate the killing intent in his heart and directly break through to the ninth sword? But by doing so, it will undoubtedly have a huge impact on his mental state, and who knows, from now on, his personality might change drastically!"

  As he thought about it, Leng Wuji's gaze towards Tang An began to fill with reverence. Such a ruthless person, if not becoming a great master, even the heavens would not tolerate!

  Lao San wore a metal mask, the mask was icy cold. The brighter the sunlight, the colder the mask seemed to be reflected. If he took off the mask, everyone would definitely be surprised. Because at this moment, this unpredictable master was actually smiling.

  A genuine smile from the heart.

  "I finally understand, the way Master said is indeed like this! This mundane world's tempering and battlefield's expedition, once entering the secular world, unknowingly it has already been ten years. Ten years, I suppose even the snow lotus on Ling Xiao City has bloomed another season. And me, it seems I should also return."

  "My way, I have found it! Where the thorny flowers bloom most luxuriantly, that is where my road ends!"

  …………

  At some point, Miao Miao also arrived at the school grounds. Originally, the school grounds were strictly forbidden to women, and even if outsiders were allowed to come and watch, they were limited to men who had reached the third realm of Tian Ren.

  However, the battle between Tang An and Xie Shi Yi was too exciting, even the guards at the gate couldn't help but frequently turn their heads to take a look. Miao Miao's lightness skill was excellent, taking advantage of the guard's momentary distraction, she slipped into the school field.

  At this moment, Miao Miao was wearing a green warrior robe, disguised as a little warrior. At this moment, the school grounds were crowded with people, and there was almost no gap in the crowd. Others wouldn't notice her at all. If she didn't speak up, nobody would have recognized her.

  Tang An stood on the stage, having just seen Xie Shi's sword, Miao Miao's heart was already in her throat, she was afraid that Tang An would die under this sword.

  Will Tang An lose? Miao Miao never thought about it. She knew that in Tang An's heart, losing was equivalent to death, and there was no difference between the two.

  However, Tang An won! He won! He won against the young master of Shenjian Villa, Xie Shiyu, who was known for his sword that shocked the nine heavens.

  "Brother Tang has won, he's won......" Miao Miao was already in tears, and she didn't know why she wanted to cry. In fact, she should be cheering, just like those Tiger Leopard soldiers, celebrating the victory of their hero. But Miao Miao knew that now wasn't the time for celebration.

  "Tang said he wants to be the first."

  "Unfortunately, I can't help Brother Tang at all." Miao Miao let out a soft sigh. She suddenly realized that apart from looking good and having decent lightness skills, she didn't seem to have any other strengths. But she was not willing to give up. She had said it before - she must do something for Tang An. Thinking of this, her eyes suddenly lit up as she thought of a great idea.

  "My mother once said, 'When the son is out and about, the daughter should be busy at home.' I forgot, I have a good hand for cooking! Brother Tang will definitely like it." Miao Miao thought to herself as she hurriedly ran outside without stopping.

  She is such a simple person, whatever comes to mind, she just does it.

  In fact, she didn't understand that for Tang An, even if she was useless, she wasn't a burden.

  Because Tang An had already gotten used to her presence.

  For Tang An, habit means that if she leaves, he will be very uncomfortable!

  …………

  Tang An stood in the arena, his hand no longer holding a sword.

  The sword is on the ground, at his feet.

  Within reach!

  But he didn't reach out his hand.

  The system prompted that Tang An had obtained 10 points of prestige at the moment when Xie Shi fell to the ground. However, the mysterious reward did not appear. But now, Tang An didn't have time to care about what was going on with the system's rewards.

  He had just lost control of his emotions for a moment, and that instant of brutal feeling still made him feel chilled to the bone even now when he thought about it.

  "Why did I just have the urge to kill Xie Shi Yu? I didn't want to kill Xie Shi Yu! But why, in my heart, there is a voice shouting that I must kill him!"

  Tang An had a premonition that if he had just killed Xie Shi Yi, his killing sword would have reached the state of great perfection in an instant, and even understood the divine mind, directly entering the heavenly realm. He knew that if he had really killed Xie Shi Yi earlier, the reward given by the system would definitely be extremely rich, not just the miserable ten points of prestige.

  But even if the system's rewards were more generous, it couldn't change Tang An's mind!

  Tang An deeply understood that the system was just a tool to help him become a master, but it couldn't control his own destiny.

  Absolutely not!

  Otherwise, Tang An would not be Tang An! He's just a puppet of the system!

  At this moment, Xie Shi Yi struggled to get up, his whole body was trembling, but he still stood up. He is a very strong person. As long as he is alive, he will stand up.

  Xie Shi Yu looked at Tang An...

  Staring at Tang An!

  He looked for a while, but suddenly turned around and asked the crowd below: "I, Xie Shi Yi, how many people in the world do not know?"

  The people below did not understand what Xie Shiyu meant and were confused, but they still replied: "In the world of rivers and lakes, who doesn't know!"

  Xie Shi Yi suddenly laughed, he shook his head, but turned around and looked at Tang An: "Today I lost, but I'm not unjust, you're stronger than me, I admit defeat willingly! The Jianghu is too small, I've been wandering enough. Today I lost to you, I understand my way now. Next, I'll return to Shenjian Mountain Villa, enter the Sword Lake, and comprehend the sword path. Xie Shi Yi makes a vow: if this life doesn't reach the heavenly realm, there will be no more Xie Shi Yi in Jianghu!"

  Xie Shiyi bowed to Tang An with a fist, saying: "Tang brother, farewell!" After finishing speaking, people from Shenjian Mountain Villa rushed onto the stage again, carefully supporting Xie Shiyi as he left.

  Xie Shi Yu walked away, but Ming Xiao couldn't help but laugh.

  "He finally found his own way, great!"

  But in the blink of an eye, Ming Xiao's expression changed. He rubbed his chin and muttered to himself: "So this means that from now on, no one will bother me every day to compare martial arts?" As he said this, he seemed somewhat uncertain. It was as if this day had come too early, too suddenly, and he wasn't prepared at all.

  But as he watched Xie Shi Yi's figure slowly disappear into the distance, Ming Xiao finally confirmed that it was true. He couldn't care less about how many people were present or how many eyes were on him, and suddenly let out a loud and unbridled cheer: "Wow! This is really too great! Long live freedom! I love Yanjing City! It's been ten years, and I've finally gotten rid of this huge burden... Tonight at 'Flower Not Sleeping', I'm going to sleep with everyone!"

  "Never again will someone suddenly barge in while I'm having fun, with a cold face saying they want to duel me. Those days are gone forever! Oh yeah!"

  Ming laughed and cheered, then suddenly slipped away with a whoosh, leaving no trace. But this time, he left others staring in amazement.

  Even Tan An on the stage and the judges around him did not expect that Ming Xiao would actually leave after saying so. Is it that in his eyes, competing with a master is not as important as the absurdity of sleeping together under the same quilt?

  Although there were thousands of people in the venue, this moment was exceptionally quiet, as everyone was shocked by Ming Xiao's unconventional behavior. It turned out that there really are people in the world who don't care about others' opinions, as long as they themselves are happy.

  But after a brief silence, someone suddenly asked: "Ming Xiao has left, so who will Tian Jian face next?"

  Another person replied: "It seems like some kind of ultimate sword? Has anyone heard of it?"

  "Absolute Sword? Never heard of it. I have heard of Restraining Sword though."

  "What else can we see?"

  "I don't know."

  “……”

  …………

  Ming Xiao laughed loudly as he strolled along the main streets of Yanjing City, with a multitude of attendants following behind him and colorful canopies above.

  The servant beside him looked at his young master, who had not finished the martial arts competition but ran out directly. He couldn't understand it after all. The servant held back for a moment and finally couldn't help asking in a low voice, "Young Master, are you really not going to compete anymore?"

  Ming Xiao turned his head back and gave a loud "crack" as he heavily slapped the servant's head with a chestnut.

  "I'm so stupid. I won this fight, but it doesn't bring me any benefits. But if I had lost, my face would have been utterly lost. I'm not that idiot Xie Shi Yi, who clearly can't beat others, yet still goes to seek a beating, what's wrong with me?"

  I patted my head, although Ming Xiao's words made sense, the Heavenly Sword was indeed a formidable opponent. But I still worried and asked, "What about Master, how will you explain it to him?"

  "Hand over my butt! My old man only has one son, me. If I were to hand myself over here, you'd be the ones who can't explain yourselves! Didn't you see the power of that last sword? That one sword, I didn't even have a grasp on catching it. Although I think losing seems pretty hard, but for a martial arts competition, friends having disagreements is not worth it."

  You don't understand, my new friend has a strong competitive spirit. I've joined the game, if I intentionally lose to him, he might not even appreciate it. But if I play with all my heart, I'm afraid I'll hurt him. Of course, it's also possible that he'll hurt me.

  In short, no matter who hurt whom, it's not worth it.

  "This sword was never meant to be used on our own kind, yet there are still people organizing martial arts tournaments. This is utterly unbearable, utterly unbearable!"

  "Alas, never mind, never mind. Let's go drink, let's go drink. It's rare to have a carefree day, as for that comparison meeting, it's none of my business anymore..."

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